For over 45 years

Women Make Movies has been championing women filmmakers and their stories.

SONITA

A film by Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami

ILLUSION

A film by Julie Dash

PINK SARIS

A film by Kim Longinotto

JOHANNA D'ARC OF MONGOLIA

A film by Ulrike Ottinger

THE BODY BEAUTIFUL

A film by Ngozi Onwurah

We support women producers and directors from the beginning, planting the seeds for a diverse and inclusive filmmaking landscape. As the world’s leading distributor of independent films by and about women, we amplify historically ignored voices and challenge the mainstream media.

GOD SLEEPS IN RWANDA

A film by Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy ShermanEmmy Winner and Academy Award Nomineefor Best Documentary Short

SAVING FACE

A film by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Daniel JungeAcademy Award Winner for Best Short Documentary

COMPLAINTS OF A DUTIFUL DAUGHTER

A film by Deborah HoffmanAcademy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Feature

FERRY TALES

A film by Katja EssonAcademy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Short

SENORITA EXTRAVIADA

A film by Lourdes PortilloSpecial Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival

WMM-supported films and filmmakers have been recognized at Sundance, the Emmys, the Peabodys, and the Academy Awards.

DISTRIBUTION

Our acclaimed collection of nearly 700 films is used by thousands of cultural, educational and community organizations across North America and throughout the world. We work in collaboration with international film festivals, national broadcasters, and local community groups to deliver media that enriches public dialogue and changes lives. Our long-standing commitment to diversity shows in our catalog, more than half of which is produced by women from different cultures, as well as by LGBTQI women, older women, women with disabilities, and women of color.

710 films

Our distribution catalog features more than 700 acclaimed films from around the world.

86 countries

Our films have screened in 86 countries around the world.

2,883 Filmmakers

2,883 filmmakers have been supported through our Production Assistance Program.

27 Filmmakers

27 filmmakers from our programs have won or been nominated for Academy Awards.

$43.9 million

$43.9 million has been raised by filmmakers in our Production Assistance Program in the last 10 years.

76 countries

Films we distribute are by and about women from 76 countries.

1,277 Attendees

More than 1,000 took part in our webinars and workshops in the last year.

$3.5 Million

Filmmakers have received $3.5 million in royalties in the last 10 years.

59,612 Screenings

Over the years there have been 59,612 screenings of our films around the world.

580 Interns

Each year more than 6,000 groups from around the world use films from our distribution collection.

245 Films

245 films from our Production Assistance Program have been completed in the last 10 Years.

PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE

We accelerate film production through a tailored program offering professional development, nonprofit tax-exempt status, consultations, and workshops, all based on industry expertise and supported by our funder connections. We offer more than 20 webinars and workshops each year which are attended by hundreds of emerging and established filmmakers from across the US and around the world.

CAMERAPERSON

A film by Kirsten Johnson

CITIZEN FOUR

A film by Laura Poitras

SHIRKERS

A film by Sandi Tan

STRONG ISLAND

A film by Yance Ford

THE FITS

A film by Anna Rose Holmer

DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST

A film by Julie Dash

In just the last 5 years,$22 million
raised in production funds$2.5 million
returned in royalities.

OUR ROOTS

Founded in 1972 by Ariel Dougherty and Sheila Paige with Dolores Bargowski, Women Make Movies spent its first decade fulfilling a mission to teach women to become filmmakers, successfully training hundreds of program alumna. In the decades since, this early work has grown into a flourishing suite of international partners and programs, a catalog of nearly 700 films, and a renowned roster of alumna including Jane Campion, Julie Dash, Sally Potter, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Lourdes Portillo, Tracey Moffatt, Valie Export, Kim Longinotto, Pratibha Parmar, Ngozi Onwurah, and Ulrike Ottinger. Past highlights for our organization include a retrospective organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in honor of our 25th anniversary. For our 30th anniversary, we launched a record-breaking ten films at the Sundance Film Festival. Beyond these major milestones, we are deeply proud of our smaller, but no less important, annual victories: Hundreds of local and national partners, special series, conferences, and festivals; dozens of partnerships with local women’s organizations in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East to support new women’s film festivals internationally; thousands of women filmmakers from diverse backgrounds who are lifting their voices and creating a more just and representative world through the art of film. As we look ahead to our 50th anniversary, we remain committed to elevating women’s voices in a changing industry and a challenging world.